Laryngectomy (sometimes spelled Laryngectomee) is the removal of the larynx and separation of the airway from the mouth, nose, and esophagus. The laryngectomee breathes through an opening in the neck, a stoma.^[1] It is done in cases of laryngeal cancer. However, many laryngeal cancer cases are now treated only with radiation and chemotherapy or other laser procedures, and laryngectomy is performed when those treatments fail to conserve the larynx. The International Classification of Health Interventions (ICHI) is a system of classifying procedure codes being developed by the World Health Organization. ... ICD-9-CM Volume 3 is a system of Procedural codes. ... Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) is a huge controlled vocabulary (or metadata system) for the purpose of indexing journal articles and books in the life sciences. ... Procedure codes are numbers or alphanumeric codes used to identify specific health interventions taken by medical professionals. ... The larynx (plural larynges), colloquially known as the voicebox, is an organ in the neck of mammals involved in protection of the trachea and sound production. ... For other uses, see Mouth (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Nose (disambiguation). ... The esophagus (also spelled oesophagus/Å“sophagus, Greek ), or gullet is an organ in vertebrates which consists of a muscular tube through which food passes from the pharynx to the stomach. ... In medicine, a stoma (Greek - plr. ... Cancer of the larynx also may be called laryngeal cancer. ... For other uses, see Radiation (disambiguation). ... Chemotherapy is the use of chemical substances to treat disease. ...

Voice replacement

• Voice functions are generally replaced with a voice prosthesis placed in the tracheo esophageal puncture created by the surgeon. The voice prosthesis vibrates the esophageal tissue in lieu of the larynx.

• A second method is the use of an electrolarynx. An electrolarynx is an external device that is placed against the neck and creates vibration that the speaker then articulates. The sound has been characterized as mechanical and robotic.

• A third method is called esophageal speech. The speaker pushes air into the esophagus and then pushes it back up, articulating speech sounds to speak. This method is time-consuming and difficult to learn and is seldom used by laryngectomees.

• A fourth method is the use of the UltraVoice speaking device which is built into an upper denture or retainer and worn inside the patient's mouth. The speech from the Ultravoice has computer controlled prosody which changes the pitch creating a more natural sound than the electrolarynx.

Tracheo oesophageal puncture is a surgical procedure performed to rehabilitate a patient who has undergone total laryngectomy. ... Biological tissue is a collection of interconnected cells that perform a similar function within an organism. ... A mechanical larynx is a medical device used to produce clearer speech by those who have lost their original voicebox, usually due to cancer of the larynx. ... Esophageal speech (or voice) is an alternate method for speech production without the oscillation in the vocal folds. ... UltraVoice UltraVoice is a newly invented (1990) speaking device for laryngectomees, persons who have had their larynx removed because it was cancerous. ... Prosody may mean several things: Prosody consists of distinctive variations of stress, tone, and timing in spoken language. ...

Uses

Laryngectomees number about 60,000 in the United States. Perhaps 10,000 laryngeal cancer cases are treated annually, but only about 3,000 people are laryngectomized. Because it is a relatively rare cancer and because the post-operative care is complex in achieving a functional result, laryngeal cancer patients should be treated at or at least consult a major federally designated cancer center, where the fields of surgery, radiology, chemotherapy, speech-language pathology are integrated in head and neck departments. “Surgeon” redirects here. ... Image A: A normal chest X-ray. ... It has been suggested that Speech-Language Pathology, Speech therapy, Phoniatrics be merged into this article or section. ...

In animals

Laryngectomies may be applied to dogs as a debarking procedure. Trinomial name Canis lupus familiaris The dog (Canis lupus familiaris) is a domestic subspecies of the wolf, a mammal of the Canidae family of the order Carnivora. ... Debarking, or devocalization, is a controversial surgical procedure in dogs that many believe permanently stops a dog from barking by cutting its vocal cords or removing laryngeal tissue. ...

References